Please can anyone explain my puppy's fascination with rabbit poo? Whilst I have read that it is fairly harmless, if I left him to his own devices, he would hoover up loads of it. How much is harmless, and when does it become a problem?
Lizanne, by email
While there are worse things for your puppy to eat than rabbit poo - and I hope you don't get to experience it - it is actually a symptom of low-grade ill-health. This stems from a problem with his feeding and should stop if you can sort it out. At Burns we have had good results but it is not always enough to try it on your own - you may need expert advice.
ReplyDeleteOur Burns MiniBites puppy food is lower in fat and protein than most puppy foods. It also uses ingredients which help to create a healthy digestive system which is the key to solving this problem. It is equally important to control the amount of food you give. this is where our advice can be most useful. The Burns Puppy Guide may be helpful.
John Burns BVMS MRCVS
Burns Pet Nutrition
I've always been told that dogs who eat things like rabbit poop are looking for the bacteria that rabbits have in their guts that help them break down grass. Makes sense to me!
ReplyDeleteThe solution is to add live bio-yoghurt to your puppy's food. This increases the friendly bacteria in your dog's belly and will hopefully stop him from "self-medicating".
Don't worry about rabbit poo. Both my dogs were fascinated by it when they were puppies, then they forgot about it though my current dog does nibble it now and again.
ReplyDeleteEven if they do eat it, it certainly wouldn't hurt them. After all, it's only digested grass and other greenery.
It probably tastes nice to them. I certainly don't believe it is a sign of ill-health as my current dog is wonderfully fit and healthy.
I've heard horse droppings are not so good because they now contain anti-biotics, so I try to hurry my dog on if she veers towards a heap of manure on the horse track near where we walk.
By the way, if you want your dog to have a cast-iron stomach, which means hardly ever being upset by anything, feed him the BARF diet.
Left to their own devices, most dogs would eat a rabbit they caught and that would include everything inside it. According to the BARF way of thinking, that is perfect food.
If you look at it that way, you won't worry about a few rabbit messes.
Julia Lewis